"Mission accomplished," said Kimi, the kunoichi's leader, grinning. "It sounds as though the second phase of the contest has already begun without us, Miss Manyū."
"Now, we just need to keep you occupied," her companion added, as she picked herself up from the floor. "Can't very well have you running to the committee to complain, now can we…?"
Sakura clicked her tongue in annoyance.
If it weren't for the fact that she needed to hold back her strength to avoid causing damage to the Daimyō's palace, she would have swept the floor with these weaklings long ago, rather than being forced to compete in fisticuffs.
Of the five who had ambushed her in the toilet, one had been thrust straight through a toilet cubicle's door, and another had had her foot twisted around at the ankle, leaving her writhing on the floor. The remaining three were still combat-ready.
"That's not quite the victory you think it is," Sakura said in annoyance. "That just means I've got all the time in the world to beat answers out of you. Such as… who hired you?"
At first, Sakura hadn't thought much of the kunoichi's explanation for why they had ambushed her; weaklings banded together, after all, and there was nothing new in that. They would share the prize if their comrades won something, which was oddly trusting for shinobi from clearly different villages, but very well, why not.
But as they were kicking her in the ribs, Sakura began to wonder why they had bothered to explain their motivations in the first place.
It wasn't as though enemies never talked to her while she was fighting them; madmen like Kurosuki Raiga, overwhelmingly strong opponents who could afford to look down on everyone, such as the Akatsuki, or idealists like Zabuza; that sort of enemy very much enjoyed blabbing about their plans.
These kunoichi, however, were affiliated with ninja villages, which made them professionals rather than lunatics, and professionals never left their villages without first accepting a contract. Since their employer clearly knew that Sakura would be participating from the very beginning, that meant they had to be someone on the beauty pageant's organisational committee with a vested interest in who would come out on top.
"Was it Gatō's son?" Sakura ventured. "Well, he might have hired an intermediary to hire you, so I suppose it's pointless to ask…"
Seeing the remaining kunoichi fall resolutely silent, their gazes fixed on her toes to avoid meeting her Sharingan's hypnotic gaze, Sakura bent down, seized the woman with the twisted ankle by the hair and held her up for her companions to see.
"Not one of your fellow villagers, I gather? Well, that's fine, I suppose," said Sakura lightly, noting the utter lack of concern on the remaining three kunoichi's faces. "You clearly know the Manyū name, but from the looks of it, you haven't been told what we're capable of, so… allow me to demonstrate!"
Sakura's hand snaked under the kunoichi's dress, closing around her full breasts before she began to knead them. A beatific look spread across the woman's face as her generous curves seemed to dissolve, melting away like shaved ice forgotten in the sun, until her gown hung loosely where her chest had once jutted out proudly, much to the horror of the three kunoichi watching.
"W-w-what the hell have you done to her!?" shrieked Kimi, her mask of composure slipping away. "Just what is that jutsu!?"
"Ambushing teenage girls in the toilet, you clearly aren't decent people," Sakura said coldly, tossing aside the flat-chested woman she had just drained. "Having large breasts is a privilege, and I find you… undeserving."
Sakura bit her lip and pushed down the waves of sensual pleasure rocking her body. Her Transformation Jutsu was straining to contain her chest's newfound mass, so she needed to concentrate. She took a menacing step forward, and one of the kunoichi squealed and spun on her heel and bolted, leaving her two comrades behind.
"Yoko, where are you going?" shouted Kimi. "Abandoning the mission will not be forgiven!"
A flash of scarlet split the air as the fleeing kunoichi reached for the door.
In an instant, she was split cleanly in two, her upper half spinning skywards in a rain of red. Blood fanned out across the walls, the floor, the ceiling, and the mirror, until the room seemed to breathe in crimson.
"Wha…?" Yoko mumbled numbly, fingers twitching as the doorknob seemed to spin away from her. "Why… is that my butt…?"
Sakura and the remaining two kunoichi watched in frozen horror as the triple-bladed scythe, dripping with blood, vanished back into the wide gash it had torn in the wall, causing the tiled bathroom's masonry to crumble to pieces as it withdrew.
A tall figure in a black tuxedo, his hair oiled and slicked back, stepped through the hole, impatiently tapping the shaft of his towering triple-bladed scythe against his shoulder as he surveyed Sakura and the two remaining kunoichi, a clear look of annoyance etched into his handsome features.
"Come on out, Orochimaru! It doesn't matter where you hide, Zetsu will always find you!" he called. "A snake like you is undeserving of being sacrificed, but lucky for you, the Great Lord Jashin accepts all without discrimination!"
"Hidan!" Sakura hissed.
Luckily for her, it seemed as though the Zombie Combo had split up to search for Orochimaru, so she wouldn't have to fight both Hidan and Kakuzu at the same time. As for why Hidan thought he'd find Orochimaru in the ladies' room… maybe it was the scrap of his chakra that Sakura had absorbed?
"Hm? You know of me?" said Hidan in surprise. "Are you perhaps seeking to join the Cult of Jashin? You look awfully familiar, though…"
Hidan had briefly seen Sakura's face when she'd burst through the ceiling of the black market and punched his partner Kakuzu in the face, sending him flying and almost knocking his head off.
"Hang on… you've been marked for death by Jashin-sama!" Hidan continued, peering at Sakura. "But you're not dead… which means… which means…"
Sakura was startled. What mark? Where!?
"Which means I've killed the cultist who was trying to sacrifice me," Sakura growled, cracking her knuckles loudly. "And you're next, Akatsuki!"
"Thank you for sending my comrade back into Jashin-sama's eternal embrace," Hidan said gratefully. "Perhaps you'll be the one to finally kill me, eh?" He shook his head sorrowfully, then smiled broadly, madness glinting in his eyes. "As much as I'd like that, it simply isn't possible… so let us have a good fight to the death in Jashin-sama's name, shall we?"